Alexander Hamilton and the Development of American Law

Alexander Hamilton and the Development of American Law

Kate Elizabeth Brown

Alexander Hamilton is commonly seen as the standard-bearer of an ideology-turned-political party, the Federalists, engaged in a struggle for the soul of the young United States against the Anti-Federalists, and later, the Jeffersonian Republicans. Alexander Hamilton and the Development of American Law counters such conventional wisdom with a new, more nuanced view of Hamilton as a true federalist, rather than a one-dimensional nationalist, whose most important influence on the American founding is his legal legacy.

In this analytical biography, Kate Elizabeth Brown recasts our understanding of Hamilton’s political career, his policy achievements, and his significant role in the American founding by considering him first and foremost as a preeminent lawyer who applied law and legal arguments to accomplish his statecraft. In particular, Brown shows how Hamilton used inherited English legal principles to accomplish his policy goals, and how state and federal jurists adapted these Hamiltonian principles into a distinct, republican jurisprudence throughout the nineteenth century. When writing his authoritative commentary on the nature of federal constitutional power in The Federalist, Hamilton juxtaposed the British constitution with the new American one he helped to create; when proposing commercial, monetary, banking, administrative, or foreign policy in Washington’s cabinet, he used legal arguments to justify his desired course of action. In short, lawyering, legal innovation, and common law permeated Alexander Hamilton’s professional career.

“[Brown’s] excellent book provides valuable insight into how the federal government developed and functioned under Washington and his immediate successors.”

—Bowling Green (KY) Daily News

“A fresh and instructive examination of [Hamilton’s] place in American legal history. . . a book full of fascinating evidence of the many small, discrete contributions he made to the rule of law, administrative practice, and American constitutionalism.”

—Review of Politics

“Since Hamilton deserves to be better known and better understood as a lawyer, we should be grateful for Kate Elizabeth Brown’s new study. Alexander Hamilton and the Development of American Law is a worthy contribution to the growing body of scholarship on Hamilton, and an important step in enhancing our understanding of his significance as a legal practitioner.”

—Law and Liberty

“Brown’s book is a fine contribution to the history of the era and makes the case that Hamilton believed in the rights of the citizen and that a strong central government, guided by well-delineated powers and the legislative process, was the better path to individual liberty and national security.”

—Arizona Attorney

“It is about how Hamilton transformed politics and English legal concepts about government, executive, and administrative power into working American practices and institutions. The primary focus here is on how Hamilton did this both as a government official, and more importantly, as a practicing attorney in the courts. The book covers topics including federal fiscal powers, legal neutrality, and common law.”

—Choice

“Katherine Brown’s ambitious study of Alexander Hamilton’s statesmanship as revealed through “the lens of the law” is long overdue. Brown sees Hamilton as a father of American law and “recasts” him as a founder dedicated to solving the problems of the uniquely American system of federalism. Brown rejects the simplistic notion that Hamilton sought to consolidate all power at the national level and thereby restores a more nuanced understanding of his principles and practices. Browns groundbreaking examination of Hamilton’s legal legacy is essential reading for students of the American founding, of American legal history, and of Alexander Hamilton himself.”

—Stephen F. Knott, author of Alexander Hamilton and the Persistence of Myth

“Alexander Hamilton and the Development of American Law by Katherine Brown is an important addition to the literature on Alexander Hamilton. Dozens of books have been written on Hamilton the historical figure and on his political ideas, but there is no book, until now, that explores his legal legacy. Bits and pieces of Hamilton’s legal legacy are found in various books and articles, but they do not come close to matching what Brown has accomplished in her lucidly written and well organized book.”

—Michael P. Federici, author of The Political Philosophy of Alexander Hamilton

“Katherine Brown’s forcefully and persuasively argued book reminds us that Alexander Hamilton’s contributions to the nation included his work in law. He was a founding father of American law whose jurisprudence greatly influenced early American constitutionalism. Scholars generally regard Hamilton as a relentless defender of strong central government, but Brown makes the case for Hamilton’s more balanced federalism and his introduction of the doctrine of corresponding powers. Although he regarded law as an instrument of republican statecraft and is rightly known for his public lawmaking role, Hamilton was also an accomplished courtroom advocate with a large practice. Brown’s work will restore Hamilton to the place he occupied in the history of American law.”

—Peter Charles Hoffer, author of Rutgers v. Waddington: Alexander Hamilton, the End of the War for Independence, and the Origins of Judicial Review

Re-examining Hamilton’s post-war accomplishments through the lens of law, Brown demonstrates that Hamilton’s much-studied political career, as well as his contributions to republican political science, cannot be fully understood without recognizing and investigating how Hamilton used Anglo-American legal principles to achieve these ends. A critical re-evaluation of Hamilton’s legacy, as well as his place in the founding era, Brown’s work also enhances and refines our understanding of the nature and history of American jurisprudence.

About the Author

Kate Elizabeth Brown is assistant professor of history and political science at Huntington University.